St. Louis area sand

[ellehcim]

For those in the st. louis area, i went to home depot in arnold, mo and found some sand. They had 2 types of play sand, in the lumber department they had the quickrete brand of sand which was brown gritty and ugly, but over in the garden area outside they had bags of sand that said "Gulf Coast" white beach sand. It comes from a company in sauget illinois. Im not sure if the sand is like that southdown sand everyone goes on about, but it is far more nicer looking then the quickrete sand. I paid 2.94 for and bag of it. It didnt have the weight but it said 5cubic ft. Anyone know anything about this sand?

 

[javatech]

try some vinager on it if it fizzs then it's the same as southdown sand and if it is im making a trip over there

 

[ellehcim]

well, i did the vinegar test on it, and there was no fizz, but im still gonna use it, its a way better alternative then that quickrete sand they had there.

 

[emmylou]

I'm in STL as well. How did that Southdown alternative work out? Do you remember the brand name?

 

[ellehcim]

well, so far its worked out ok for me , i do have some of that brown algea in my tank which might have to do with it, but im waiting till my tank is completly cycled before i get some critters to clear it up. i got the sand at the home depot in arnold off of vogel rd. the bag said "Gulf Coast" white beach sand. It was out side in the garden center. they also carry the quickrete brand, but it was real dark brown and it was in the lumber department.

 

[emmylou]

Thanks for the info, I might check it out.

 

[trigger digger]

Originally posted by javatech
try some vinager on it if it fizzs then it's the same as southdown sand and if it is im making a trip over there
what will this tell?

 

[emmylou]

I purchased 4 X 40lb bags of the Gulf Coast White Beach Sand in the Home Depot on Vogel Road. The bags have been sitting outside in the snow and were frozen. When I opened them, some of the sand looked to be rusty, so I washed it. The water turned very dark orange/red so I decided to wash the sand at least 10X until it was no longer rusty.
Now the sand is clean and don't feel bad about placing it in my tank. Everyone says to not wash sand, but I didn't have a choice. It is more light brown than white, but should be much better than the CC I have now.
I have the sand incubating in rubbermade containers with my tank water + bags of live CC + few flakes of dried brine shrimp to let all the sand particles get coated with my bacteria. Will stir this up until Sat. when I introduce it. Hope this works!

 

[witche42]

hi ,
thanks for the info on the sand, i was getting pretty desperate for some, it definately isn't southdown but with the 2 bags i already have and the 4 i am getting of this stuff it will work out nice. has anybody else checked on some of the other message boards at -- or reefs for southdown? i know the next time it comes into town i am gonna stock up, i have a 150 that has been sitting for almost a month because i couldn't find any. i had all of the corals jammed in a 55 gal and the stress was starting to take its toll on some of the livestock.
thanks again,
steven

 

[javatech]

take a look here
http://www.fishheads.org/viewtopic.php?t=379

 

[witche42]

hi there,
yes i have some on order from that guy also, i just think that it will take a couple more weeks for them to actually get the sand here. unfortunately i can't wait that long, i have already lost 2 corals and 2 more are looking bad so i have to do something now. from past reef message boards, it takes a while it seems to get the stuff from hd. even one they say it has been shipped.
steven